MBA, Books, APICS, Ideas, Philosophy

Office philosophy

2012-11-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

As a person from the Engg background I have always taken pride in looking at everything from the technical standpoint and trying to make choices based on logic and reasoning but sometimes a simple event in life appears in such unguardedmoment that you feel disparaged and often times begin to admonish your inability to comprehend things or even worseyou defy your own very code of decision making process.

It is 10am and very bright and beautiful Friday morning outside my office window and in one of the rarest moments I am feelingquite motivated to work and as a consequence I happen to write an email to one of my colleagues and wrote quite a good email consisting of marked down questions in bold bullet points trying to exhibit myself as a very analytical and quite focused on my work but of course in my vain attempt. I finish typing andreview the mail and feel good that I wrote quite a crisp email and I begin to press ‘send’ button. But there comes a momentwhen I hit send button a new window pops up like the one below

And here I am sitting utterly confused, totally clueless and frozen thinking what the hell on the earth am I supposed to do. Imight decide one of the easiest options of not making a decision and just click OK irrespective of what outcome I will get but the moment I drag my mouse near the ‘ok’ tab I get this metaphysical question ‘Am I ready to defy the wisdom ofmaking a decision based on logic and reasoning just because I am lethargic or have I come to an agreement that the cost ofanalyzing an outcome like this in particular (what output format my mail will be) does not justify the time and effort.

In either cases I have sufficient reason to believe that either selective applied reasoning is also a part of qualitative reasoning or a more radical approach would be is to believe thatmay be reasoning is not always a good choice to make a decision.

In this case, I don’t know what does each option mean and I don’t think that most people know or want to know and not even sure why there is an option to bring more complexity in life of a common working Man. My question to you is this not a mockery and an arrogance by ‘IT fiefdom’ laughing over the situation they put a normal pc user everyday and making surethat we rely on their world of obscurity.

As I sit down more writing about it I am tending to gravitatemore towards philosophical question that isn’t obscurity and complexity creating more polarized society and disintegratingthe whole social fabric into chaos and linguistic challenge. I metpeople from different industry and I feel is true. The more we think the more challenging and pertinent questions we face.

For the moment I will give in to the trap which has been laid out for me and will agree to be a victim of somebody’s sadistic pleasure by clicking ‘OK’ and then clicking ‘OK’ again when it prompts me a new popup ‘Are you sure you want to proceed?’.

Greece Crisis -A complete picture

2011-06-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

I did't knew that in my lifetime I will have to hear that an entire country is on sale..Yeah that's not a surprise question..we all know I am talking about Greece..The economy of Greece is really in shambles so much so that if the govt is unable to pay off it's debts then they have to sell their property.As I am writing this,the govt has already auctioned its railways,beaches,casino,airports,hotels,water,electricity and every unimaginable thing.If this slurry would keep on going then we would very soon see a private country.A country which is a fragmented and owned by private organizations.
I am honestly trembled to think about tte magnitude of crisis which is getting unfolded.To put it simply ,if Greece fails to pay it's debt then the whole world will distrust the bond markets and everybody will be in Mad hold to pull out their investment thus triggering a systemic crisis and destroying the value of Euro.If this happens then the wealthier countries like France and Germany will be in huge loss.They will never want to see this day and hence they will ensure that people Trust Europe and continue to hold their investments and hence keep the euro strong.So these countries have two options,either let Greece pull out of the euro zone or never let Greece fail.Greece would never like to pull itself out of Euro zone because of it's exclusivity and benefits.If the euro countries decide to throw Greece out of the club then other unstable economies like Italy,Portugal,Ireland and Hungary would follow suit thus making euro club very unpopular and weak.
The best and only option is to never let Greece fail.To make this happen Germany and France would have to bail out by giving shark loans and they will do so only if they are sure that greece is able to a back them and only if their country will support this decision.People in Europe are against it because it's unfair to bail out other country at the cost of their earned tax.On the other hand Greece is not sure if they can pay back the amount to them or not because it's condition is really like a begger.To get the loan they would need to bring tough austerity measures and tax people heavily ,the population is bitterly against it but govt has no option if it has to save itself..
As the crisis is unfolding There are several big questions which is on everybody's mind...Will the govt be able to pass these austerity measure? Will govt be able to repay back the money in near term even in the face of highly unpopular policy and skepticism?Will the govt display the leadership at this juncture and able to contain the widespread unemployment and hatred.Will investors trust the Euro market and most fundamentally,Is the capitalist economic model which these govts are pursuing in the face of over leveraged capital markets a sustainable one or it's the slap on the face due to excess greed.?
I don't know these answers and I don't Even think that anybody at this time knows it,time is the biggest teacher and we all will see things soon.

Hangover in SIngapore

2011-06-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Okay here is a bold revelation by me about what happened on Saturday night .How crazy can one expect to be on Saturday night with anyone in Singapore.I guess we just achieved a new height of our craziness .Read below.
I met with 2 of my friends at East Coast Park and we planned to have some drinks at an Irish cafe.We drank and drank the whole bottle of Chivas Regal,two of us flirting with the philipino waitress and ending up taking her email address.This much was still not enough and we decided to go to Orchard Towers.One of my friend is a very decent guy who is doing his exec MBA from here and he has never seen the dark side of this city so we decided to give him the real taste of what it is.for those of you who don't know what this place is about,allow me to explain you about it. This place is a 4 storey mall full of strip clubs,pubs and discotheques..All in all you can see the most weirdest things happening right under this building under the blanket of dark night.The moment you will enter the building you will be swamped by hookers and strippers all drooling over you and asking you to buy them a drink..After bit of finding a happening joint we entered into a disc whih was highly illuminated with flashy neon lights with provocative display of nudity outside.When we entered inside we saw so high volume ear deafening rock music ,darkness everywhere,drinks flowing ,lots of sleaze ,lots of censored situations but somehow we struggled to manage a corner table close to the pool table.The moment we took out seats we found girls sitting next to us and trying to flirt around.
I knew it very well the trap and didn't wanted to get into this thing for whole night so I took my beer and couple of tequila shots ,sat listening to music and playing pool with some drunk german guys over there..we must have spend some hour or so time passing like this and when I came back at our Tavel ,I saw of the our friends(d one doing MBA ) who was supposedly one of the most shy and sheedha Sadha was flirting around with this girl,doing all those crap things..me and other guy were just sitting next to him and trying to understand what's happening with him..we had only one job here..he would buy tequila shots for himself n her girl and we would simply sign the cheques..
Anyway to cut long story short,after long drama this guy was so so drunk that he was totally unconscious n asleep.We literally had to drag him on the floor and dump him into the taxi.I took him back to his college ,and there he puked right in front of his administrative building at 5am and somehow I took him to his hostel room.
Next morning he called me and asked me what did i do whole night and how did I came to my hostel room.I was laughing over the entire episode that what we had been throughout the entire night.
Moral of the story:never let a guy get drunk so much when you have to sign his booze bills.

Disclaimer:I am not trying to be any smart ass or some kind of very decent guy but truth is I just went there,had my beer ,played some pool and that's it..I find it more enjoying to have somebody do the things and me laughing over the whole act of foolishness..I feel that's more worthwhile rather than being an Ass..What say?

Indian education policy

2011-06-16T04:14:00.000-07:00

I am visibly frustrated.Not on myself but on the kind of policies are being shaped up in India that is making India not a global leader but just a fine example of crumbled empire with myopic ideas.
I want to highlight which is really bothering me from last few days.Day before I was reading newspaper and I got to know that in private schools it has become mandatory to enroll 25%lower class students.I am imagining a case that suppose the poor children are being put up in a school where there are very rich children,would it not make them introvert,would It not make them filled with inferiority complex,I think so.More importantly it would also slower down the pace of the learning of the class because it is very obvious that the kind of exposure and the environment the well to do kids would get will be vast different from what the poor kids will attain.
So I Believe that instead of enforcing a policy of this kind it makes more sense for the govt to open up more public school,privatize the administration and make it regulated so that our young children can get access to free and fair open education to get the right kind of environment which is needed for their grooming.we would be amazed that only 9-11%of children between 19-21year old can enrol themselves into the university.This is a shame on us.we have the highest population of young people in our country and we are such a miser to leave them untapped.What is government doing after all?When will they grow up and think about things other than worrying about some fasting babas?

Work & Workarounds

2011-06-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

And its weekend again. If you have to ask me, how were the past 5days, i have only one word for that...i survived. Yes truly. Last 5days were very rigorous and streesful.each morning when i sue to wake up and read Hanuman Chalisa i use to just pray please help me survive today. And yippy the whole week has past.btw sometimes i really feel that there is a lot and lot of room for my improvement. There are a lot of people around me who work really more than i do and still never show any sign of irritation on their face and my boss is my biggest motivation.

This evening when i went out with him for a coffee he told me that he's got to have his dinner now because he might need to stay in office for quite long in night and besides the fact that he has not seen his son from last 3days.its then it makes me ask myself ,what the hell am i doing in life...is this my commitment towards my job, and if i am going to pursue this infatuation with this luxurious life then it might become my habit and i would never be able to sustain long..All in all, I know one thing very well that i need to rethink the way i see my work and bring bit more energy and output to my job. If not I’ll be ruined soon.

I have couple of takeaways form this week:

· Take work very seriously now.

· Always get the work done, no matter how long i need to work, just get it done anyways.

· Looks does matter, so always make your reports very presentable and with excellent formatting.

· Try to keep your ego in check, there will be lots of ego clashes and sometimes you need to compromise, but that’s part of work especially when you're working in a team.

· Last and most important.....never lose your focus and concentrate more well on work.

At last I am home, on Friday evening with next two days ahead and nothing much to do. The question of the day is how I am going to utilize this time. The biggest hazard of weekend in a new country is you can at times be very lonely and once you're struck with this bug in mind then you go into a kind of loop and that’s what i need to avoid. So I’ll be keeping myself occupied with reading books, watching some movies ,reading some more, watching a little more movies, shopping ,having my scotch(yes, it’s made in Scotland) and may be going out on beach alone with music as my companion..

Singapore Elections- Lessons to be learned

2011-05-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

I witnessed the general elections in Singapore yesterday. I followed very closely the campaigning by contenders and how the election process took place and paralleled with how it used to happen in India. I was amazed to see the way elections are handled in a developed economy. Couples of important things that separate it out are:

The party in power is PAP (People's Action Party) and it is in power since last 56years under the mentorship of Singapore’s architect Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Imagine a country with a stable govt with reformist and progressive policies, curbing inflation and providing better quality of life to Singaporeans since all along.
Till last year there were many constituencies where there were no elections held because there were no oppositions, people were just too happy with the present govt to ask for an opponent party. Only this year there has been an increase in no of opponents.
Out of all the constituencies, only 1 constituency won the seat in parliament which is Aljunaid.the ruling party is scared because the no of voters against the PAP were 6%.
People here stand for hours to vote and people across all sections of society do vote right from the newspapers vendors to the business tycoons in their BMWs.they don’t think voting as a part of some compulsion but they treat it as a responsibility. Veterans who have had heart surgery, people who can’t walk even they have come for vote and they say that it is an important thing to vote.
The government is giving each adult individual $800 because they have collected enough money from citizens from GST and they want to return them the favor.
Everything in elections is automated. Each voter identity is recorded ,complex graphical analysis are made, voting takes place in one day and by the end of night the results are also out.
The politicians are not school dropouts but eminent lawyers, judges, academicians. They are the people with the most prized degrees under their belt.
There are overseas ballot rooms in other countries so that Singaporeans living in other country can also exercise their voting rights. For e.g. in US, Washington area there was a ballot room in their embassy, people drove for 15hours all the way to Washington to vote.
Every part of fund collected from the supporters for election rallies are accounted and remaining money is returned to them even to the accuracy of $1.

I am seeing the way Singaporeans think, the way they patronize the govt and i cannot stop myself from drawing relevance that how we would be in India if some of the good things our Indian govt adopted.

Life - An Alternate Perspective

2011-05-07T01:13:00.000-07:00

Every morning when i get up and go to work i usually come across these short duration random thoughts and get these scarce philosophical bytes. How much have I changed so soon? There was a life which i was leading was filled with so much of randomness, filled with so much of eagerness, carelessness, reverberating with chaos and there is a time when my life is so predictable, routine, cagey, so focused that sometimes i still feel that i am a person who is trying to juggle between two lives.

At one time, I am living a life where you have to wear a mask and play a conscious role and there is a life where you were what you were but you try to bring that life into this present life, even though you can't but you try to live a part of this all the time because you cannot agree to the fact that that part of live is a bygone era.

At times ,i ask myself ,who am I ,what is my absolute purpose in my life, what does this life mean to me and for me what is happiness ,what is sadness ,what is success and what is failure. To me today it looks like i was in a cocoon where my perspective was limited to my nest and all of a sudden my abode is the open sky. Hence the terms have changed, the definitions have to be redefined, the mission has to be laid out and most important I have to hold on to a vision.

I think i have got the right word.VISION.It is very important.Today,when I go to work every morning day in day out ,when i ask this question to myself why am i doing all this, what is my purpose ,what is my ultimate drive, I feel that i am diving inside an empty vessel. A right question needs to be asked to find the answer. What do i want others to remember me as when i die?

What is the meaning of life?

Every morning at the MRT station while boarding the train, I see a blue dressed turban wearing 60years old MRT employee standing at the left most corner exactly at same spot giving exactly same smile with the same effort of hiding his inability to overpower his ego.

Every morning i see this humble and frail old Indonesian lady overtaking my way exactly when i am going to step on the escalator and using her tissue paper to wipe out dust from the trail bars of conveyor belt.

These are just some random observations which have no meaning in my life but when i see them i don’t know why but somewhere somehow leave an impression on my mind and leaves me for asking again and again "Is this what is life worth for'?

But I step inside my office and see a pseudo life with the humdrum of business, see people running here and there to escape boss' wrath and then I tell myself, Saurabh the game has begun, time to wear your mask!!!

Priority List

2011-04-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have made my priority list as follows:

§ Learn business very fast and keep boss happy: In my company there are very few people and they are doing lots of work, competition is intense and the only thing which matters here is doing right things right. So i can’t let people take me for granted because i can’t afford to.

§ Start APICS CPIM prep from May: I had been waiting to get this certification from long time but due to placements i had to give it a miss.But come this June, I am hell bent on clearing my CPIM anyhow. Life will be much tougher from May because as it is i don’t get time to think anything for 5days a week and on top of that i will have a responsibility to slog hours each night to sit and study for the exam. Hard times are on cards but i am not afraid. This too shall pass and the result will be sweeter. My motivation is very simple. I am absolutely beyond doubt now that the importance and recognition of CPIM is very high in industry. I got so far here is only a livid example of CPIM.

§ Be frugal for another 2months: I am living this entire month on my last half month salary, next month I have to pay the rent and deposit along with the APICS exam fee. That will leave me with no savings so I will not have room to splurge here for another few months to come.

Message for tonight: Exceed Expectations. Always!

Supply Chain Analyst- Challenges Aboard

2011-04-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

As the days pass by and I am getting more drawn in the life of Singapore, I am getting busier and busier here.My 5 days are very very busy and is full of pressure, lots of work. I believe my honeymoon period ended much earlier than I expected.It has been just a little more than a month that I have arrived here and started work so I dedicate this blog to my 1month anniversary.

Before I came here, I did not create any hopes about the city, but one thing i knew it very well that i am here for only one thing and that is HARD WORK. I am trying to be modest but i believe that i really have stepped into too big shoe fit for me since my role is very demanding. I wanted a job where i would have opportunity to learn, to grow, make good network, get exposure and be exited. I am elated to see that it indeed is true. The work culture here is very good. Environment is very free. Minimal rules are imposed and nobody questions anybody. All they demand is result with deadline. And that’s what we are here to deliver.

But to sustain here in this role is not an easy task. This is something which i have understood very clearly. You need to be very aware and conscious of things happening around in business to form a judgment; you must have a huge appetite to manage the loads of information flow. Trust me with so much data, sometimes it is mind boggling. And most important, you have to be fast and very efficient.But as they say, the job of analyst is to extract the information from the data and ask intelligent questions to people and get down to the crux of things.

Challenge to me is to increase my efficiency and maintain my focus. Focus is very crucial in the role of Supply Chain Analyst. If you know very well what you are looking for, you will filter out the unnecessary information very fast, form the right questions and highlight important things to top management. Not always it happens that your boss has got so much time to mould you into this role but i am fortunate enough to have my boss like one. He is very objective, firm and data dependent. You just can’t tweak things in front of him, you need to be very well prepared in front of him and that’s where the focus comes into play.

I am trying to be fast enough to understand the business but still lot more needs to be done. The idea is to keep a very keen eye on each and everything, have a firm control on the message passing across, and be good in MS Excel and SAP. The trick is if you have a good command over system, work is like a good game of managing supply and demand.

Inflation a worry across Asia

2011-04-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

I read a very interesting news today in Wall Street Journal.As we know that HongKong is one of the richest economies in the world and is just the next in the ladder to US.it has got so much of money that it is literally giving away cash to its citizens after the upcoming elections..Each HongKong citizen will be entitled to HKD771.The good news is that the country's GDP is growing at 5%annually but at the same time the internal situation is very fragile.There is an increasing disquieting business class over the rising bureocracy and the government's out of touch with the locals.
At the time when the country is attracting the foreign businesses and FDI in tune of billions of dollars there is a rising divide between highly paid and lowly paid workers.The land prices are skyrocketing.Last year it increased by 24% and last to last year it was 30%.The 'sandwich' class is getting sandwiched all the more.
I see there being an inherent problem with all those countries who have pursued the policy of opening the FDI and FII inflows.It increases inflation and the money gets unevenly divided among rich and poor.Oil prices are rising,headline inflation is just at dangerous mark...I ask,where are we going?
I don't think that the situation will be dissimilar for Singaporeans if this government too carefully evaluates this dichotomy.inflation is in single digits here but it is increasingly marginally on Yon basis.
just a food for thought!

How have I been??

2011-04-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

It’s quite frustrating when u’ve taken so much pain in writing a real long blog but you can’t save it because u have written it in a different lappy and you can’t open it now because it doesn’t have a battery and whose charger doesn’t work in sockets of Singapore. I mean last weekend i actually sat down to write a very thoughtful blog and now am unsure if that will ever see the light of day.so its frustrating me but never mind, I’ll just post some new incidents..

I have now completed close to 3weeks in Singapore and a lot many things have taken place in my life.

1. I made couple of good friends here.All Indian of course and males (much to my dismay).i think it’s pretty easy to make friends here because there is common thought which binds all singles and foreigners here.A feeling of insecurity and loneliness.so you don’t have to find a reason to get jolly well with people here.

2. I became a witness of the making of a history. India won the world cup 2nd time in its cricket history after 27years.its a very proud moment. I was really shocked so see so many Indians fans in Singapore and the all night maddening celebration which took place that night in Singapore. Young and old, everybody waving flags, singing anthem, honking horns and for whole night.it was just amazing sight.

3. I shifted to a flat from my lovely business hotel room. I am going to stay here for another month and then i will shift to a flat living with an Indian family. That house has a very homely environment; it is very beautiful and very spacious. Most of all it is at the heart of city, in a posh area and will be very convenient from my office too.

4. I have got a good hold of the business where i am in, I am now able to understand my profile and also contribute in terms of the output according to the expectations of my boss.

5. Hey, i got my salary. First salary in dollars. Although it was only half month salary but i felt great. I paid my rent with that and i guess it should suffice me for my expense this month.

6. From a converted vegetarian (which i was in India, I reconverted to non-vegetarian in Singapore). The food is simply amazing here and if you are a non-veg then you've got variety of options. I literally eat non veg twice a day; I relish on them and drink 1litre of Australian milk too. Am not joking.

7. Tonight is the beginning of this weekend. I am looking forward to buy some necessities from Mustafa, Little India, catch up some sleep, got to East Coast Park, booze and party.FYI i am going to a party at Marina Bay tonight. It’s been a long time since i have been to any party. I hope it will be a fun time.

Have a great weekend!!

Cornicopic Musings!

2011-02-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

Life is so unpredictable and that's what makes it so exciting.each new mystery which it unfolds in front of you and lets you exasperate with awe and lets you linger with sheer pulse racing excitement I think this is the real beauty of life.
There was a time in my life when I used to feel myself so unlucky and now suddenly in twist of turn I have started to feel myself so lucky.what a strange coincidence ,isn’t it? But as they say, that’s life.And don’t you think that the luck factor which we say is also very relative.A simple example would suffice here I guess.If I want to compare my salary with my peers in my college and supposing that it is the big amount then you would call yourself lucky but if I compare my salary with my friends with whom I studied in Engg and taking into account where they are now, supposing that mine is into the lowest bracket, I call myself unlucky..So that’s very contextual and relative. But again we all inherently want to feel ourselves happy so the idea is that we should always look at the greener side of grass.And green is good right!!

Few random thoughts and events which I want to scribble down although they have no logical sequence.
I had planned to go to Goa with couple of my friends who were supposed to gather in Goa from Mumbai and Pune.I had my ticket done but at the last hour something didn’t consummate I we had to abandon the trip,am feeling very sorry about this and I will regret this cancellation of my program.

Yesterday I spent the whole day watching India-England world cup match and was delighted to see the nail biting competition between both the teams. Both the teams making a gross score of more than 700 runs on the field.That was amazing treat for Sunday.But I think that Indian bowling attack is very dismal and still lacks depth in its bowling and I think if there would be one reason why India won’t be in the finals it will be because of this only..They may have to face a big cost because of this.Although their batting attack is formidable.

One more interesting thing I noticed during the match. There was a very curious and interesting ad by Vodaphone about its zoo zoo.i am sure that McCan Ericson must have worked really hard to retain the image of zoo zoo which had its impact on its first edition of ad.Their ad really hit home by being distinguished from other ads and I am sure that it has left its impact on the minds of people..Commendable effort by Nirvana guys.It's time Taproot, Madison, Ogilvy & Mather, Bates141 n the likes work up their sleeves get into his act.

Okay so my parents have gone for a pilgrimage cum exploration trip in Gujarat for a long week.and I’m stranded in Noida having nothing much to do.That being said I have exactly 9days before I again leave for Varanasi. I have planned an agenda for me.I will read lots of books during this time, I will do aerobic exercises and lose weight, catch up with friends and my relatives in Gurgaon and around.

Today I am going to Noida to buy a jeans for me.I will be buying jeans after a long time of 2 years.For me buying clothes is a big issue.I find them waste of time and money.The only reason why I am buying jeans because my last Levi is so torn that I can’t really wear it outside my hostel..

So time to go!!!!

Egypt Flirting with Democracy

2011-02-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

When I was a child reading history books I used to wonder about so many important events like inventions, discoveries and revolutions. Back then I used to think that when these things would have taken place people who were living in that era must have been so lucky to witness it. Never did I believe that someday I would also be a witness to a very important event which will go down the annals of history.

I am talking about the liberation of Egypt from the shackles of autocracy and achievement of democracy. The world over people are overjoyed by seeing this magnificent spectacle. This result is not an outcome of mass protest for 18days at Tahrir Square but it was breeding and gestating from last 30years since the Iranian revolution of 1979.The Black Friday of Iran was the demonstration of the power people have collectively shown.It is such tremendous force together that led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak regime which was reigning since last 30years and leading Egypt towards high stagflation and corruption.

The event will create a domino effect and food for thought to other Middle East countries that are being inflicted from the tyranny of other autocrats.Israel is feeling very insecure and isolated.US will try its best to buy a good image in Middle East by trying to help Egyptians pressure Mubarak to descend. But the situation is still very tense and delicate.it needs to be seen that the country finds a very smooth transition to democracy.People get representative public ofices, free and fair elections and economic growth. Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Freidman rightly said that it could end up like a failed democracy like Pakistan or the other situation could be it could end up as an unstable democracy like South Africa...This could be possible.But the real onus lies on Egyptian army. The army has very high degree of trust and support of common people. Infact army in Egypt is highly involved in community development. The army should see to it that Egypt gets precisely what it has desired, it gets for what there were several martyrs...

Long live Democracy...AMEN!!

My Best Birthday Gift !!

2011-02-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

What better gift can anybody get on his birthday by getting a job.yes I am one of those lucky ones. On the eve of my birthday when I should have been partying I was busy from morning till 11pm in night giving interviews.but now I know that it was all worth it..It is the happiest day of my life. After a long wait of more than 2 years and unending struggle my job search has finally come to an end. I AM PLACED...yes that’s true.I've got a job now. All the hard work, all the struggles, all the frustrations has now disappeared. And I am really very very happy. I just can’t tell you.the feeling is yet to sink that I have got the job.

Getting a big brand, a good profile and a handsome salary is always dream and I am no exception. Guess what happens when you wake up and realize that it is no longer a dream. It is a reality. You are now what you have been striving for. I can now proudly say this to my friends, my relatives and to myself. Nothing more is so important now.it really feels so good I never knew.in the last couple of months I started getting very desperate and tensed for this.and my last blog is an example of this..I started losing hope and was even willing to settle down at a lower salary but I think destiny was on my side this time.When I say that I was destined to get this job am really true saying that I was pure lucky.Don't believe me, read out below.

I was to appear for an interview in a company called Sheila Foams which was offering me 16,000 per month. I saw my mail night before my interview that I have been shortlisted by HCL but the interview is on 1st Feb. which coincidentally falls on the same date and same time as Sheila Foams. But in HCL JD they did not mention that they were offering SCM profile infact they mentioned they needed people for marketing but with Engg background.though I was allowed to sit for interview but I was reluctant to join for marketing profile irrespective of what the package was I decided to give HCL interview a miss and appear for Sheila foams. Coincidentally the interview at Sheila foams got over bit early and when I checked out in HCL I found that the GD round is already over and they are not entertaining any more people. I tried to get in touch with HR and my PlaceCom head but at both the times I was refused was told that they have stopped the process and I can’t go now.nevertheless I thought lest just drop in there and meet other people from our college there..I went there I tried to convince the HR several times.but I failed.after numerous efforts and continuous pestering she allowed me but now the problem was that there was only me left for GD so GD round could not take place hence she allowed me to appear for personal interview directly. Lucky me!

Round 1:

I was 2nd time lucky here I went inside for interview facing a panel of 4interviewers looking very serious and intimidating.they started asking me questions from my Engg after seeing that I am an electronics engineer..They asked me things like VSAT, satellite communication process, GSM, CDMA etc etc.luckily one of the other interviewer was also APICS CPIM certified and he asked me lot of questions on SCM.much to his surprise I was able to answer those questions very well and with confidence..He seemed quite impressed.

Round2:

After short listing people based on GD and technical interview from a pool of 80studenst from 5 different colleges they shortlisted only 3 people and I was 1 amongst them. This time the lady recruiter told us clearly about the profile. She said that though they had initially not offered this profile but now after seeing our interest in SCM they want us to be a part of their strategic sourcing team. It’s a pure end to end global procurement part of their SCM profile.they briefed us about the profile and I was extremely impressed because I wanted profile exactly like this since it was complementing my interest in APICS as well. I was 3rd time lucky here. They asked if we had any questions. I asked them a lot of questions and I realized that they found me very curious and quite well read on the subject matter. She said that they want each 3 of us to think if we are interested in the profile, and once we are decided then they will take a 1 on 1 interview for each of us.

Round3:

This time the interview was much more technical, intense and more stressful.it was a pure global procurement live case study interview.and they asked me to give them a logical flow about my approach towards solving the case. I started by going very fast.the interviewer seemed unimpressed. She reminded me that till so far she found me the most impressive guy but I am ruining her perceptions by being so fast and overlooking important details. I got alarmed. My blood flow was racing fast. I tried to calm down. I started thinking and gave them logical answer slowly and slowly guess this time they liked my approach and they kept on interrupting me and giving me some hints and suggestions. I refined my points and again presented them.this whole interview lasted for 1.5hours.finally when they were exhausted with their questions.they told me to go out and wait. Then came the last and final HR round. It was more of a formality and she just asked me simple questions about my background, family, strengths, weakness, willing to relocate type of stuff.when she was finally done I asked her when should I get the result..In the passing by remark, it slipped out from her mouth by mistake that she will be sending me offer letter to my PlaceCom head tomorrow morning.

Well that was the end of the day. I was happy yet nervous.at one time I was feeling that I am selected and happy thoughts were rushing inside me and at other side I was tensed and thinking what if they reject me, what if they don’t send me offer letter..Honestly speaking I couldn’t sleep that whole night.

Next morning I went to my placement head and asked her to send the mail to the company HR.it was when I was having my lunch; I got a Sms from my placement head to come to her cabin. To see my reaction he tried to play with me and told me bluntly that they have rejected me because I couldn’t clear some of their criteria.it was worthwhile seeing my face. I was totally dumb struck, and confounded. But just as I was about to break into tears she loudly screamed that I am Selected. I saw that mail and must have read each and every line for at least 10times for my surety.

I came outside the office and immediately called my mom and told her that mom I have got my birthday gift.she was so happy. Her only son had got a job which she could proudly boast about.and as they say, the rest is history.

PS: The joining letter is still due and I am awaiting further details like my salary breakup, location and joining date. Assuming that the confirmation mail is proof that I am placed I am making a sin of being overjoyed.god please don’t spoil my party. I deserve it very badly.

Struggle for a Meaning

2011-01-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

Getting a job is never easy. I was told by many people and still being told so but it’s only when you are actually experiencing the hardships that you realize the full meaning of the statement. I am trying hard to get a decent job but I didn’t realize that there are thousands of others who are also trying for the same, hundreds of people who are much better positioned than me and deserve a better a chance to get that job than me. I know this fact but I have to keep on trying. I can’t stop it.

It’s too bad when you prepare so hard for an interview and you get rejection. It questions your ability and your confidence which is a very harmful and dangerous thought. I must have faced at least 7 interview since last few months and each time in the interview I have felt that there is so much better I can do ,so much better and thoughtful answers I could have given ,so many things I could have told but still I didn’t. I failed and I am learning from my mistakes although the price I am paying to learn them are too high...the price of remaining unemployed,the price of being poor and broke ,the price of being reserved and price of low confidence.
I can not realize it better now that 'first impression is last impression’. I am going to meet the interviewer for only those 20mins and based on those 20mins he will have to decide whether I am a good fit or not.It becomes so imperative that I utter very carefully guarded words and leave no chance for him to question my abilities and pin point my weaknesses.

I don’t want to hide my emotions and rather want to make a very candid admission today that I am definitely not feeling good about it and living in despair and hopelessness. People say that it’s very hard to get a job in a reputed company and at the profile you've dreamt. If you get any chance for that then you are very lucky guy. I thought I was a lucky guy too. I had got chance 3times when I could have been a part of 3 big organizations and at good profile but on each count I failed. Not because I faltered terribly during interview but because I was not interviewed due to below average academic credentials. I was refused from the opportunity of showcasing my competencies because of my past mistakes. I was a victim of a prejudiced mind. I console myself because I think if you make mistakes you are bound to pay for them. I am paying for my sins today.
I had worked hard to get admission in MBA and after joining MBA I worked harder even more. I punished myself and I slogged like anything. I had sacrificed a lot and for the first time in my life I was able to find the meaning of my life. I was enjoying what I was doing and was determined and focused like never before. I thought that with my hard work one day I will be able to disapprove the notions that I am just a normal guy and I will be able to get a decent job...I was wrong..Not just once...each time I was wrong...I forget that there is something called DESTINY...it is not in your hands and sometimes you can’t do much except just leave things to the destiny. At this juncture I am at such position that I am waiting for my luck. I am hoping...I am living my each and every second of life on the 4 letter word HOPE...it’s such a powerful word...you have to be hope full only then you will be able to overcome the challenges...

I may be sounding disappointed and pessimistic but I am not trying to make a false guess that I am not motivated. I am very motivated and each failure in my life doesn’t demotivate me but motivate my more to challenge the circumstances.each time I find a much more stronger will power and a resolute mind to challenge those obstacles..I take it on my ego.I cannot fail.I have to succeed.I have to be patient.I have to give my best shot and wait for the results.I have to learn from the mistakes and give a better performance next time..But at the end of the day I know one thing for sure...I WILL WIN....it has to take place.because I still owe myself a better life....

Remember that after the darkest hour comes the beautiful dawn.

Dhobhi Ghat

2011-01-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

What a movie it was.Kiran Rao is truly superb. I am impressed by her imagination and creativity in making this film. A first film written and directed by Indian of authentic international style. I was really mesmerized by the story line, way of narration, the angles of camera, shooting locations and each and every nuances of movie.

This is the movie of Mumbai through different lenses. It is a story of different people living different lives, in their own complex web of emotions, their environments and lifestyles all connecting with each other in some own way. It is a story of Bombay which means different for different people. Its story of life which is so different and so various. I am just over awed by this movie.

A small town Muslim girl who is just married, who is alone and who foolishly displays her innocence by her smiling and naughty face in the cruel world. A girl who is so loner that she lives her life by talking and living with her video camera as her substitute for a husband. A middle class suburb lifestyle portraying little reasons of happiness in small things in this fast faced lonely Bombay life.

It is a story about a thoughtful eccentric divorced painter who lives life in lonely world trying to connect various impulses in his life, who is reserved and chain smoker. It is about a painter to whom the next big inspiration is the ordinary life who wants to explore city through different perspectives.

It a story about a rich investment banker lady who is on sabbatical obsessed with this painter after her one night stand, who is a on a mission to explore real Bombay... a very charming beautiful girl who is in romance with the photography, divorced painter, black Bombay and emotions.

It is a story of this innocent and dreamer laundry guy who dreams of becomes a superstar, who falls in love with this lady. His new found source of happiness lies in being with this lady. The story is about a guy who works as a laundry guy in day time, who sexually satisfies a lonely rich wife living in posh flat, who tries hard to save his night from water drenching shanty ceiling in rainy night and one who is trying to find happiness by quixotically romancing this girl.

It is wonderful story and I believe that this should go to Oscars from Indian side. It exemplifies purely the art of making a movie, a movie which is so classic yet so modern. The joy of watching lies in not observing sequence of events but in exploring a small details, connections and emotions which have bound every part of character. I have seen Hollywood movies of similar nature and I think Kiran has borrowed her theme from those movies. Thumbs up to you Kiran Rao.You are a great mind…

One Night Stand

2011-01-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Whosoever may have read my previous blog must have been very quick to label me as a pessimist, dejected and cynic.well, this post is categorically meant to disprove these notions. I proclaim that I had a great new year’s party albeit in my own way.don't believe me.huh...read out below:
My college friends had organized a pretty lovely party in the campus with music and a bonfire in the open garden. I wanted to give them an insinuation that my idea of a party is something more happening.don't ask me what is my definition of 'happening' though. I sometimes don’t like to get into details rather want you to rely on my sense of humor.

I rather decided to go to Gurgaon to my friend’s place who was alone, recently fired from job and of course penniless guessing that since both of us share a lot of things in common so we might have a great party..So I traveled for 2hrs in a jam packed metro rail which was on the border of witnessing stampede and reached his home. I was too hungry so my courteous host treated me with his last night's leftover cold and hard pastry and an ice cream.during winters very few people have the guts to experiment with ice creams. Thankfully my host was amongst one of them.then sprung the discussion of our main topic ...where to go for enjoying our new years...after shooting in air lots of fancy names like TGIF, Ruby’s Tuesday, Addiction n all suddenly I thought why not bring some financial aspects also into our final decision (hoping that it will make me proud for being MBA finally) but since both of us had just made a fresh resolution of going frugal in 2011 so what better way to start from now. we did so by deciding to go modest with our budget(yeah right, that was to save our face) so our final plan was to drop the plan of booze & those exciting pubs because t was damn expensive to get sloshed in a pub rather we’d eat a good dinner and watch a movie..

I was not to happy but didn’t wanted to let my host feel down.so nodded my head.since I am a vegetarian for the moment I ended up eating chole bhature,fried rice without gravy in front of a guy who was gorging madly in his tandoori seek kebabs, chicken biryani..Okay.not a bad start for my party.the movie will compensate it all.
So we took tickets for some English 3D movie.don't ask me the name.it was terrible.only 10people in theater,no chicks and a sci fi movie which I could not even understand and what more it was not even a 3D ..
when the clock stuck 12,when whole world was jubilantly dancing and merrymaking and getting drunk,here I was wearing a over sized green filmed goggles sitting in a dark theater watching a movie which I could not understand..Now this was a real depression...We came back home after spending Rs700 per head and ending up feeling real loser. At home we cuddled up in our bed and watched a 1980s shatrudhan sinha, mumtaj movie before falling asleep.

Shakespeare has said 'all's well that ends well’. Happy New Year friends...have fun.

Why Should I Celebrate?

2010-12-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

I was born in year 1984 and would be witnessing the usher of New Year for 26th time in my life. So is true with other people with their respective numbers. This is great to know and should be a cause of celebration.Well, people are doing it already see everywhere that there is a joyous vibe, exuberance in the chilly air. Somebody would be going out with friends to a lavish pub; someone would be hitting big hotels opening Sauvignon Blancs’ while some would prefer cozying up at their homes with a small dinner party.

I am not special hence I should celebrate too.....really? In the midst of unending sms beeps in my cellphone, spam emails in my inbox and flashy ads in newspapers and TV I cannot help but think for a minute what this holds for me. What should I celebrate? Is it because we have completed a full year and we are one step closer to our so called final goal? Is it because we have become more mature and have gained wisdom and we will make better decisions in next year? Is it because last year was bit tough and we had tough luck so cheers for bad times or simply because anything new is good so let’s find another irrational cause to celebrate?

unfortunately I don’t lie in any of this so I need to explore what this is for me.well,2010 was pretty good for me comparably because I got newer experiences, delivered big challenges, made some excellent lifelong friendships and to small extent got a better sense of life. That was neat right? Nothing too edgy, no big mishaps, no hard lucks, no big failures...hmmm...so still my question looming large, why should I celebrate?

I am standing at this phase of my life where I see most of my friends working in good organizations, some luckier ones deciding whom to spend their rest of life with (no pets this time) while some have settled abroad and here I am fighting endlessly to get a respectable job, to make a position of my own in this society, to get a purpose of life and of course to know whether I should party on this new years eve or not...but, That’s Life..

honestly I don’t know and this philosophical debate in my psyche shall never find a justifiable conclusion in due time so I guess I shall also have to jump into a mad mad world, shoot down few drinks in an upscale pub on 31st night, mesmerize at the crowd's madness and their acceptance of the fact in their subconscious mind that they too don’t know what this celebration actually means to them.

Sitting at a cozy sofa in a corner I will see this, I will smile at my ignorance, and I will gulp another drink down to call it my way of celebration.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Destiny & Drucker

2010-12-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

I was never a believer in destiny...My notion was that if you are hard working guy, if you had put in sufficient amount of effort in your work then you will get what you have aspired to. It is because a person gets noticed only when he is having the traits required for that work...Little did I imagine back then that my notion was not only wrong, it was totally inconsequential.
Destiny is a very strong noun. A word whose true meaning and source is still largely unexplained, a word which is totally inverse of logic and reason. If everything in the world has a logic, a pattern then we may label it as a reason but if the outcome of that thing becomes unpredictable then we want to label it as destiny.Intersting thing is to know that sometimes this DESTINY becomes so important force and part of our lives that we want to think too hard on it.
I am facing a situation where I am totally dependent not on my abilities but on destiny. It is GETTING A JOB. No matter how competent you are, no matter how smart and talented you are, your destiny will become the defining force in deciding your career and your job...if your destiny is there then the potential recruiter will call you, if not he will not. If it is your destiny then your interview will go well even though you are terribly diffident.
Anyway I wanted to start my blog after the long come back with this philosophical note. I like reading books so let me share some of the things which I want to. I am currently reading Peter Drucker's ‘Management’. If you ask my recommendation then I would say without any reservations that this is THE book to read if you are an MBA, if you are starting your company or if you are at a managerial position. This is the complete theory of management with excellent cases to justify the theory. I read this book daily but at a very slow pace. The idea of this book is that you should read 1 chapter at once and try to think how you can bring some of the key ideas of the book into your life and experiment, work hard to bring it on.And then read another chapter. This is not a novel and is strongly warned not to read it at one go. It will be a highly injustice to Drucker.
I must say that I have become a fan of Drucker and I now feel that these precious books are my treasure. They should not be picked from library but be brought out straightaway...They are an investment which must be kept high on the bookshelves.
It’s time to get back doing some of the pending work and will come back to you soon.CHAO!!

Life in a Metro

2010-12-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

After a grand Christmas party last night Today afternoon I was coming back from my Bhabhi’s place in Gurgaon to my campus in Noida through the mass transit rail commonly called METRO .I reached the central hub of new Delhi called Rajiv chowk to change my train and found that my train was due in 3min50sec so I just stood there and was looking at the place. I was amazed to see swathes of people running around all over after departing from trains and heading for their destination and thousands waiting for their train. It was an absolute sight of ‘Organized Chaos’. Everywhere uber, modern and well dressed young boys and girls, polished office goers, rustic villagers and not to mention Punjabis running all around and here I was standing in the middle of this rush thinking Delhi has changed so much in few years. A mass transit system has metamorphosed culture, their life style and has become a part of their daily lives.

Metro as well call it, was launched in Delhi in 2002 and before that the only means of local transportation was road transport which was inefficient, slow, inconvenient and very frustrating.A very good salaried middle class would find it very demeaning to travel by bus for work or with family and look at now in 2010, people of all classes are traveling together with dignity and peace in metro. This is really very interesting and so I did a quick math and tried to find the no of passengers who would be traveling in a day and used the logic of no of trains originating in 5mins on one line*no of lines*no of traveling hrs*no coaches*no of people in a coach and found that the figure comes out to be around 13lakhs which is 10%of Delhi’s population. It is incredible to know that 10%of Delhi’s population is traveling in Metro or so to speak each day the whole country of Mozambique or Dominican Republic country is being transported by Delhi metro such is the grandiosity of Metro.

Metro is fast, highly efficient, clean and well connected. What used to take 1.5hrs for an office goers to reach his office after his daily share of fight with heat and dust has now become pleasant air conditioned hassle free journey by Metro is 45mins.Due to this, people are traveling to lots of places, they are now well connected, they can change jobs easily and meet relatives frequently.

But their lies the challenge too. A recent report by McKinsey predicted that by 2030, India’s population will reach from today’s 50M to 550Million that means so many jobs will be created and so many people will need to travel. It is said that fossil fuels will be extinct by 2050 and already the international crude oil has jumped to more than 50%in few years. That means the government will have to ensure that it is able to provide cheap and efficient transportation to masses and having ability to handle demand surge.

With the baton in hands of E.Shreedharan we can say that we should be relaxed but the model needs to be scaled and replicated in other towns as well. If we want to realize our dreams of 11%GDP by 2011 than we must increase our transportation to boost trade and commerce.

IDEOLOGY-STATIC OR DYNAMIC

2010-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Have we ever sit and wondered that why we become so obdurate,intransigent and stubborn in our thoughts,actions,beliefs and values as we age and grow?

And before we even want to find the answer of this question,lets ask a more bigger question,wondering that the premise of this discussion is not merely an hypothesis,a generally stated fact,which needs no empirically stated proof,is our character of becoming intransigent a right thing or not?

If we say that becoming stubborn unconsciously,naturally by a normal adult man with sane psyche is a positive development then we must check our presumptions against that.

The reason is that as the man grows,he gets lots of experiences and innumerable exposure constantly and he then goes on an eternal pursuit of finding meaning out of it and making this more standardized and order out of chaos.In other words,he wants to define some sets of beliefs and makes it a guiding principle.After defining his guiding principle,he again goes back to his experiential journey but this time armed with his values and philosophies.This new set of ideology provides his judgment and ability to take decision,and chances are high that his decisions from then onwards will produce a positive outcomes thus giving him more confidence and firming his belief all the more.

I am saying that this is natural and very much in line with the theory propounded by Charles Darwin's magnanimous epic "Origin of Species' conceptualizing 'Survival of Fittest'.But there lies a bigger meaning which gives us a reason to find a more deeper view into the levels of society which exists in the world.To explore this meaning we need to again go back to the concept 'Survival of Fittest'.The society which is at the upper level of hierarchy is more developed one and hence has the better ability to change itself dynamically by breaking its old ethos,traditions,beliefs and ideologies.

This observation gives us a glimpse into the similar analogy that if we want to take a leap and become more progressive then we must also introspect into our beliefs and ethos thus calling into the need to constantly question our beliefs,have the ability to challenge them and determination to modify our beliefs.This needs a mental conditioning model which will let us achieve this goal.Hence,as we grow,the beliefs which we form are true only under limited set of conditions and those conditions are not universal but highly local.So in order to achieve our dreams and improve our life style we must remember that the our ideologies are false under some new conditions and hence we must be ready to spot these new conditions and activate our conditioning model to form a new set of beliefs and ideologies.

This is my Chautauqua for this day!!

Rethinking MBA

2010-10-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

I happened to read a very interesting article in today’s ET titled RETHINKING THE MBA.The authors argue that instead of having 2year MBA course, it’s more pragmatic to have 1 year MBA course.I’d like to sum up the reasons they have stated in support of their argument:
Students get slacked off after completion of 1st yr because they know that their job short listing is based on their 1st year CGPAs.
The creme De la creme of MBA is summer internships which get completed after end of 1st year so students get relaxed after 1 st year.

The students in top B schools are mostly engineers from top colleges so they are already conditioned to be fast learners so they don’t need 2 year model for learning management.
All the best b schools in the world like Ivey B School in Canada’s Ontario and INSEAD, Paris have adopted the 1 year model.

Keeping in these above points in mind, it’s better to have 1 year model because we know that to optimize your assets, assets must be leveraged, inventory must have high turnover hence these if we adopt 1 year model then the student intake can also be increased, faculty shortage can also be met and students can be industry ready faster and start earning faster.

I could not agree more with the argument stated by these eminent thinkers. I myself have faced the same issue in my MBA.i have observed that the 1st year of MBA was rigorous and we were really able to learn the concepts very fast and were more productive. We had to go through so many things like assignments, classes, extra curricular activities and in fact all the main subjects had been taught in 1st year itself and the 2nd year has been so relaxed that sometimes it comes to haunt me and makes me think as if I am simply wasting my time and the real valuable learning is effectively zero. I am not joking or temporarily emotional, I am serious. We hardly have classes, and the classes which we have are repetition and extension of courses taught in 1st year while some of them are just a waste of time and they are there only to fill time. Other than that we are doing almost nothing. And I sometimes think back that what value have I gained in my 2nd year which will arm me to be a better manager and then there is void in my answer.in fact I had learned more during my 2months of internship than in my MBA so this proves the fact that given time crunch and scope of learning being huge you learn things more faster and longer.

I don’t see any reason why we should have this 2year model, have the students get taught all the important courses, send them for internship and give them placement. The courses and subjects have no end and if we think that this or that subject is also important then this list will never end. Some things should be left to be learned on the job too.

I hope with this article, a better sense will prevail and hopefully the coming generation will get the fruits of this debate coming to fore.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenaince-Robert Pirsiq

2010-10-08T08:52:00.001-07:00

I am currently reading this book called 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert Pirsiq. It’s a nonfiction book which is heavily based on philosphy.I had heard a lot about this book from so many people including my dear friend and my Marketing Professor. I am halfway through this book and I like it very much. One big reason why this book is so interesting is because the book is not a bland didactic highbrow philosophy but it is in form of a very interesting real story which has happened with the author himself. Another reason is that the background of the author itself is very connected and very curious. It would make anybody wonder that this book which was first published 3decades back was rejected by 121publishers before it came into print. Robert Pirsiq had gone into depression and was considered lunatic and was put into mental asylum for some period of life. In short he was certified mad, dangerous and homicidal. He had a very bad married life because of several reasons. But another curious fact which must be known is that pirsiq was a born genius and it was proved by his astonishingly IQ score of 170 recorded during his childhood. Now you might be wondering what situations had led him to become a lunatic and suffer from acute depression and to answer that I’d also like to add the fact that his conditions grew so severe later on that he was seen talking to himself and he admitted to be having delusions and diagnosed as schizophrenic. I started reading his book, then left it in the middle, read this book's afterword and then checked some fact about him from internet and I was really surprised.

To give you some causes of Pirsiq’s problems, I think we need to understand something about his book first to gain better understanding about him.

This book is a story of a man and his son and their 2 couple friends who go for a cross country road trip in the Northwestern part of US and while driving author is talking a lot about some of the philosophical ideas which are running into his mind and has explored some key questions and topics which are extremely fundamental. The trip has basically showing the readers a perspective into author’s ideologies through something called CHAUTAUQUA. A Chautauqua is a word which he uses whenever he is on drive and wants to think very deeply on something. He has discussed a lot of issues at length including the philosophy behind motorcycle maintenance,difference between classical and romantic art, Metaphysics of Quality and no of other things. But the interesting thing is that author has coined an imaginary character called Phaedrus (which he has borrowed from the dialogues in Plato’s play namely REPUBLIC and SYMPOSIUM).Phaedrus is author’s anti ego which doesn’t exists actually but author wants to refer every incident using this 2nd person and not himself. But Phaedrus is very unique to author.He is very rational, very value driven, very honest, uncompromising, unrelenting and he acts and does what he things is right irrespective of what society wants him to be even if society is wrong. In short Phaedrus is a very ideal character which author things that the real part of him is Phaedrus himself but he actually disguises himself to be different and pretends in front of society.

Now the real reason which leads to Pirsiq's breakdown is that the imaginary character Phaedrus slowly and slowly starts to dominate his real life and he starts behaving unsocietial.He talks a lot to himself and sometimes he feels that there is actually a person called Phaedrus existing.He is rejected by his family and friends because of this nature and he is given electro thermal therapy in hospital. Slowly and slowly he realizes that if he has to come out of this asylum then he will have to compromise will his 'real' self i.e. Phaedrus which he has testified in his interview long back. But after coming out of hospital ,he is bothered with numerous issues which haunt him so he decided that he must go for a road trip and may be in the pursuit of finding the answers ,he would be again become a satisfied man. After coming back from his trip he becomes so compelled that he decided to write book and what we see as a book becomes a masterpiece by Robert Pirsiq.

Robert pirsiq has also visited BHU, Varanasi to study oriental philosophy in search of his answers, he marries a journalist who comes to his boat for his interview during his long voyage, and he removes the grading system while holding a teaching job in a university.

Read out this book guys, it’s a worth piece to grab!!

Ideas @ Work !!

2010-09-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am at times very experimental in nature and at times I am very conservative. It reflects from my moods into kinds of things which I do and the kinds of hobbies I pursue. currently I have 3 big ideas in my mind and I am trying to execute these ideas and reach the desired goal. A lot of times I get various ideas, sometimes they are so strong that I just become impulsive and jump and my guns but then after some times I lose the fizz. My challenge is that I don’t let my enthusiasm just die like that and I take it till the execution level.

One thing is very clear to me; you can implement any idea into its final goal only and only when you have a firm and rock solid belief in your idea and If you have this belief that no force can deter or demotivate you. I am now not going to just jump at my gun but I will first evaluate if I believe in them strongly or not. Once I take them ahead then there is not going to be any looking back.

Idea 1: organize a drama by the junior batch based on any classic English play like Shakespeare in next month. Take a professional help, manage people and their resistance, enthuse people and handle all sorts of issues but organize a great event, invite all the people from the college and show the drama in front of everyone. My success and sense of achievement will be determined when I will see this whole show happening in front of me and getting praises by eveybody.this will be an ultimate test of a manager and leader and I am hell belt in making this come true.

Idea 2: organize a workshop for SAP for the students of operations management in october.this was the idea which I was cultivating since long and after returning from my enriching experience from internship. I was very sure that if I want something, then it will not come to me just like that but I have to reach out and grab it. I am happy to see that it is coming quite true. Today I have had a meeting with our CEO and he was quite convinced with my idea. A lesson I have learned from this exercise that I can be a good marketeer as well. The only way you can sell your idea is if you are very sure about it and you have necessary data to back it up.

Idea 3:Though this one was the most earliest idea advancing in my I always wanted to write a research paper but I was not clear which should be a suitable topic. Now after tinkering with few topics I have found my topic and without keeping any unrealistic deadlines imposed on me, I want to work on this project daily as a discipline. I wish my paper sees the light of the day someday.

This will be on my agenda for very near future and I wish myself luck and hope that my motivation, my will power stays intact and my belief grows more and more with days passing by.

Leaving this blog with a quote which I made myself yesterday, "the sign of excellence in a person is not when he competes with others, but when he competes with himself, not for a week, not for a month but day in day out and makes it a way of his life."

In Retrospect

2010-09-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

My occasional revisit to my blog sometimes forces me to think if I find this as a blog actually or a compendium of recent events. My rare visits to the blog sometimes make me believe so.upon questioning, I see my blog as this way.

Blogging, to me is a way of self expression. A natural and very free form of expressing your thoughts, ideas and random musings which most of the times are so irrelevant for any person to be told about it. It is a channel through which I can look back to some of the important things in recent past as a retrospect and ponder over them. It makes me document the important things in my life which I can read after years and reflect on the way I was groomed.

Having set this motive as a tone; let me now share with you some of the things.

I gave my ECO exam last week and my mood is 'satisfyingly clueless'.i now this a strange emotion which it usually occurs to you, when you've worked too hard for that exam almost on the verge of getting 'burnout' from the repeated study, and after giving exam you are clueless to decide if your paper was good or not, but you are satisfied that the paper is over. I think some part of the reason is because when I study any subjects for an exam I have a habit to stick my neck deep into it until the phase is over.

after a long time I went to library and upon spending a really long time pondering ,I picked up one book on the leadership and promised myself yet again that I will finish this book soon noticed something peculiar in my search for book today.previusoly when I used to go to library to issue any book, it would take much time to pick up because I was too fascinated to read just about anything, but now I find it too tough to pick and I have become very selctive.it might be possibly because either I am too voracious reader now or I have developed some 'stereotypical' tastes which makes me uncompromisingly slective.nevertheless,my choice of book this time was very starnge,i picked up this book because I had heard about the author and I found the cover very attractive. Wondering and coming to believe that book covers are really a very vital part in your gross sales.

A lot of things have happened in the campus off late, lotss of new things I am experiencing, some of them were unanticipated while some were anticipated but the experience is completely new. But there is one thing which those experiences have fundamentally reaffirmed by belief that no matter what are the externalities, you must never and never compromise from your values and must always be focused on the goal. As you progress in your career and stages of life, new things will come, they will try to attach with you but the idea is that you must be very sure what the things which are negotiable to you are and what are non negotiables.once you see these things clesarly, it will be very easy to live and achieve success.

Your goal is only what is true and close to your heart, rest all is a distraction and waste of thought.